Samsung ties up with Google for Health Connect, a common health and fitness platform for the Android ecosystem | Digit

With every new platform update, we get to learn of new ways the Android is getting more feature-packed, smarter, more cohesive, and more secure. Just recently at Google I/O 2022, the company released some privacy measures as part of Android 13 Beta 2. And now, on the heels of the event, we are hearing about Health Connect from the Android team. Health Connect is officially described as both a “platform” and “a single set of APIs (Application Programming Interface) to securely access and share health and fitness data across Android devices”.

What does this entail for the Android ecosystem, the end-users, and what has Samsung to do with it? Let’s find out.

Health Connect: How it works?

First of all, Health Connect will be a platform baked into Android. It is currently available to all Android developers as an open beta program.

Now for end-users like you, it will be like a vault in your phone, wherein you will be able to securely store health and fitness data. You will be able to securely connect other health and fitness apps to it and share the saved data with those apps.

As for developers, Health Connect also means a common set of APIs that lets them securely access the stored user data. They will be able to read and write data only with you, the user’s permission. Hence, the repeated use of the word “securely” in the official description of Health Connect.

The Android team assures that “users will have full control over their privacy settings, with granular controls to see which apps are requesting access to data at any given time. The data in Health Connect is all on-device and encrypted”. You can revoke permissions or delete data on the device whenever you want. Even, there will be the option to pick one data source over the other if you happen to use several health and fitness apps.

Google is partnering with Samsung, Leap Fitness, MyFitnessPal, and Withings in this endeavor. 

“We’re building this new unified platform in collaboration with Samsung to simplify connectivity between apps. We appreciate Samsung’s collaboration as we roll out Health Connect to foster richer app experiences while also providing centralized privacy controls for users,” says Google.

TaeJong Jay Yang, Samsung’s EVP​

“We’re working alongside Google and other partners to realize the full benefits and potential of Health Connect. I’m excited to confirm that Samsung Health will also adopt Health Connect later this year. With users’ permission, this will enable app developers to take advantage of accurate and optimized data measured on Galaxy Watch for Samsung Health and use it in their apps as well,” says TaeJong Jay Yang, EVP and Head of Health R&D Team at Mobile eXperience Business, Samsung Electronics.

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